


A Very Special Friend

by Bradamante



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: One Shot, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 07:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14828423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bradamante/pseuds/Bradamante
Summary: A young girl ends up developing a childish crush on Guy, and has to learn to deal with her feelings.





	A Very Special Friend

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fanfic five years ago at the height of my TotA obsession, and it ended up languishing in draft limbo because I was never entirely satisfied with it. But I recently stumbled upon this fic again, and I thought; “what the heck, I might as well share it.” I only touched it up recently to fix any spelling/grammar errors or weird sentences. The story and dialogue has remained untouched.
> 
> Yes, this is a story in which a young girl (original character) develops a one-sided crush on Guy, an older character. Let me repeat that: it is a ONE-SIDED crush. Guy never reciprocates, and nothing ever comes of that crush. This story is basically about a young girl having to deal with her feelings.
> 
> This story may also still have some awkward sentences in places (this was something I wrote five years ago after all); and the layout of the Fabre mansion might not be completely accurate. This was actually the main reason why this fic remained in draft limbo for so long–I couldn’t exactly remember/didn’t exactly know what the layout of the Fabre mansion was. But I tried my best using anime and game references.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed my story as much as I did writing (and re-reading) it.

Gabrielle swung her legs back and forth beneath the stone bench she was sitting on. She was a youngish-looking girl; obviously still a child. She was wearing a dark green dress, which ended just below her knees. Her legs were covered by white tights, and she had two shiny black shoes on her feet. It was a hot summer's day, just before noon. Gabrielle angrily pulled at the long green sleeves on her dress. She should have worn something lighter that day.

Gabrielle brushed her long brown curls out of her face and her gray eyes turned towards the large mansion behind her--the Fabre mansion. Technically, she shouldn't even be here, if not for her older sister, Nancy.

It wasn't that Gabrielle's family was poor--but they weren't exactly rich either. In the city of Bacticul, where the classes were separated by tiers; Gabrielle's family lived in the middle area, where the main shopping district was. Above Gabrielle's tier lived the nobles and the elite. But the highest of all was the top tier, reserved solely for the Bacticul Castle and the Fabre mansion; home of King Fabre and Duke Fabre respectively.

So how was Gabrielle, a mere commoner, allowed on this very top tier, overlooking the entire city of Bacticul? It was only because her sister, Nancy, was a maid at the Fabre mansion.

Gabrielle let out a small sigh as she remembered the day her sister decided to start working at the Fabre mansion. Gabrielle had objected profusely. Her sister--a mere maid! Gabrielle couldn't bear the thought of it. But it was all for their ailing grandmother's sake, as her parents' jobs alone weren't enough to cover the cost of her medication and treatments. So Nancy started going to work at the Fabre household, from dawn until dusk. It was unbearable for Gabrielle, who was so close to her sister. Nowadays, her sister didn't come home until after dinner, and had to leave for work before Gabrielle even got up in the morning.

A clock tower in the distance chimed out twelve times. The servants’ and maids’ lunch hour should be starting now. But Nancy still hadn't shown up to get her. Gabrielle kicked both feet out in annoyance. She was currently sitting on a weathered stone bench outside the grounds of the Fabre mansion. The bench had been placed between two large trees and was thus in a rather shady and secluded spot. Gabrielle hated it.

But nonetheless, she had to wait here. She had no choice. The bench was located at the side of the Fabre mansion, and was practically hidden from view unless you were looking at it straight on. Since Gabrielle was simply a commoner, she obviously couldn't be seen hanging around the Fabre mansion by anyone of importance—either Duke Fabre or his guests. Her sister would have been fired immediately if the Duke found out. Gabrielle hated it all--she hated having to hide like some mere criminal. And she hated the sight of the Bacticul Castle, which towered over everything as if in boast of its splendor.

Gabrielle had just turned ten mere days ago, but she wished she were older. If she were just a few years older, she could have taken on a job to help support her family; and then maybe her sister wouldn't have had to work so far away in such an imposing and suffocating looking mansion.

The sudden sound of feet on cobbled stone shook Gabrielle out of her thoughts. A female voice called out to her.

"Ah, there you are, Gabrielle!"

It was her sister, Nancy. Nancy was a young woman who was nineteen years of age; slightly older than some of the other maids. Nancy also had brown hair like Gabrielle did, though hers was straighter and slightly darker. Nancy’s hair was tied up in a bun on top of her head, like usual. And of course she was wearing the signature Fabre house maid dress, with its signature red and black colors. As Nancy neared, Gabrielle noticed that her sister’s soft brown eyes looked more tired than usual.

"I'm sorry I'm a little late today," said Nancy, as Gabrielle ran to hug her. "I was kept a bit busy because the Duke's son made a mess in the drawing room..."

"It's alright, sis!" said Gabrielle, who had her face buried into her sister's apron. "I'm just glad to see you."

After the short hug, Nancy quickly led the way onto the Fabre mansion grounds, and Gabrielle obediently followed behind. It was the usual routine: through the tall black gates past the imposing guards at both sides, and walk all the way around the outside of the mansion to the very back, where there was a small back door.

"Why do we always have to enter from the back?" asked Gabrielle. In front of her, her sister let out a sigh.

"Gabby, you've asked me this almost every time you've come here. It's because you can't be seen around here. I had to bribe the entrance guards with cake for a month before they even allowed you in to have lunch with me."

"I don't like sneaking around like this..." said Gabrielle, tugging again at her dress sleeves. "It makes me feel unwanted."

"...I know, Gabby. But just... bear with it for now, alright? Isn't it good enough that we can see each other today?"

Even though Gabrielle was allowed to have lunch with her sister, it was only on certain days. If there were any expected important guests at the mansion that day, Gabrielle was forced to stay home.

"Anyway, how is Grandma doing?" asked Nancy.

Gabrielle knew that Nancy was trying to change the subject. Even so, she replied, "She's okay for now, I guess. She really didn't have to walk me all the way up here… She's getting so frail now. I'm old enough to come here on my own."

"Gabby, you're only ten," said Nancy, with a stern voice. "You have to be careful. You're still only a child, you know."

"I know that," said Gabrielle. Then, under her breath she muttered, "Though sometimes I wish I weren't..."

Gabrielle’s sister didn’t appear to have heard that last part.

After a few more steps around the outside of the mansion, Nancy and Gabrielle stopped in front of a small brown door, which Nancy swiftly entered. Gabrielle did the same. As they were now in the Fabre mansion proper, Gabrielle had to remain quiet through the entire journey it took to get to the servant's dining quarters. Nancy always took a long, winding path to get there, to prevent Gabrielle from being seen by anyone other than the other maids and servants of the household.

Finally, the two sisters came to a larger wooden door at the end of a dimly lit hallway. Nancy pushed it open effortlessly. Through the door was a medium-sized room, connected to what appeared to be the kitchen. There were round, wooden tables scattered all about. All the tables were loaded with platters of food. Many other maids and a few servants were sitting at some of the tables, chatting and eating from plates. There were a few worn tapestries hung on the walls, and it was just as dimly lit as the hallway that Gabrielle and her sister had come from. The room had a comfortable warmth to it, and the smell of food wafted through the air. It was the servants’ dining quarters.

"There you are, Nancy!"

This was said by a maid with a short bob cut, who was sitting at a table at the back of the room. A few other maids were seated there with her.

"We were afraid you were going to miss out on lunch."

"Ah, no; I just went out a bit to get my little sister," replied Nancy.

Nancy quickly walked over to the table and took a seat by the maid with the bob cut. Gabrielle did the same. As she sat down, she noticed an empty table in the corner.

"So are Guy and Pere not coming in to eat today?" asked a maid at their table. She had long straight hair to her shoulders. She quickly grabbed two plates from the basket in the center of the table and passed it to Nancy and Gabrielle, who started loading their plates with food from the platters.

"I think they're both out on business," replied the maid with the bob cut. "They'll probably eat their lunches later."

"What a shame..." sighed the long-haired maid.

"Oh please, let's not talk about  _him_ ," said Nancy, with a slight tone of annoyance; stabbing at a chunk of roasted potato with her fork.

Gabrielle looked at her sister quizzically. Nancy seemed to hate Guy, and Gabrielle felt the same.

Guy was a person who was easily recognizable. He was a tall young man with bright blonde hair that seemed to stick about everywhere. He was always wearing black pants and an orange vest over a white shirt. And he always carried a sword around with him. Gabrielle had thought that strange--were servants in the Fabre household allowed to carry swords? Or was Guy just a special case?

Anyway, she had seen him many times before while waiting for her sister at lunchtime, at that cold stone bench she despised so much. Sometimes, there were other kids waiting around too: sons of some of the guards that guarded the mansion. The other kids were rowdy boys that liked to pull on Gabrielle's extremely curly brown hair. Guy would sometimes come out of the Fabre mansion, on some kind of errand or something, and he usually stopped to play with them a bit. Well... more like "with just the boys." For some reason, he always seemed to keep his distance from Gabrielle and that made her angry. Did he really hate her that much? What did she do to make him act that way? And thus she grew to dislike Guy very much.

"Gabrielle?"

It was Nancy's voice.

"Yes?" replied Gabrielle. She had been slowly chewing on some collard greens. "What is it?"

"Here," said Nancy, gently grabbing Gabrielle's hand and putting something in it.

Gabrielle withdrew her hand to get a closer look at the object. It was a rose hairpin. It was simply clay painted over with a shiny paint, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Gabrielle ran her fingers over the hairpin, which was only slightly larger than a Gald coin. The rose was painted a soft pink color, with many petals etched in. At the bottom were two leaves painted in green; also lovingly detailed.

"Nancy, where did you..." started Gabrielle, looking up at her sister.

"I got it from a visiting traveling salesman today," said Nancy, smiling. "It's your birthday present. I’m so sorry that I was late getting you a gift this year."

"No, please don't be sorry!" said Gabrielle. "You were busy, so it's not like you had the chance! Also, you didn't have to get me anything this year, with our money being so tight. You really didn't--"

"Stop," said Nancy, putting out a hand. "You're my precious sister; how could I not spare some money to at least get you a little something for your tenth birthday?"

Gabrielle looked down at the pin in her hands. She didn't know quite how to feel. Sensing her little sister’s anxiety, Nancy spoke up.

"Don't worry about the money--it didn't cost much. I was able to get a special deal on it. You know how good my cakes are."

Here Nancy winked at Gabrielle, which caused her to smile.

"There! Don't be sad anymore, okay? And don't you worry your little head over trivial things. Your big sister Nancy will take care of everything, okay?"

"...Alright," replied Gabrielle, as she clutched the rose hairpin to her chest.

 

* * *

 

After lunch Gabrielle was immediately led out of the mansion by her sister through the same way they came in. Since they finished their lunch a little late, Nancy had to quickly rush back inside to start working, but not before putting the rose hairclip into Gabrielle's hair and giving her a small peck on the head. Gabrielle waved goodbye to her sister's back before letting out a sigh. She once again found herself outside of the black iron gates.

"Grandma's not here yet to pick me up..." said Gabrielle, looking around.

With nothing else to do, Gabrielle wandered over to that awful stone bench again. There was a patch of dirt in front of the bench. Gabrielle found a stick on the ground nearby and began to scribble random doodles in the ground.

"Hey, it's little miss curly hair again!"

Gabrielle visibly flinched at the voice. It was those boys again...

"Why don't you guys just leave me alone?" said Gabrielle standing up and holding the stick out in front of her like a sword.

Standing in front of her were three boys that she recognized immediately. Their names were Peter, Joel, and Michael. Both Joel and Michael were younger boys around the same age Gabrielle was. The two of them doted on Peter, who was their senior at twelve years old. All three of them were wearing plain shirts and pants, though Peter also had on a jacket which was unbuttoned.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own age?" said Gabrielle swinging the stick back and forth.

"Pfffft, if there were kids my age around here, I'd pick on them instead," said Peter, brushing his messy red hair out of his eyes. "But since you're the only one here, I guess we'll pick on you today."

"Gabrielle's hair is so curly... and so much fun to pull!" said Joel, as he ran towards Gabrielle and yanked on a strand of her thick brown hair.

"OW, that HURTS!" shouted Gabrielle aiming a kick at the boy, but he dodged nimbly. Gabrielle felt another painful yank, this time from her other side. It was Michael.

"Hey, maybe if we pull on her hair long enough, it will straighten out, yeah?"

"No it won't!" shouted Gabrielle. "You both know that! Now stop it!"

"Hmm, what's this?" It was Peter, who had finally walked up to where Gabrielle was standing. He quickly snatched the rose hairclip from her hair. "Wow, I wonder how much money this will fetch?" he said, holding up the hairclip to the sun to get a better look at it.

"Give that back!" cried Gabrielle, who was finally able to shove the two younger boys away from her. "My sister gave that to me! It's a special gift!"

"Special gift, huh?" said Peter. "I dunno, it looks kind of cheap, but I suppose I could probably get a few Gald out of it." He swiftly pocketed the clip in his jacket pocket.

"You better GIVE THAT BACK!" screamed Gabrielle as she dropped the stick she had been holding and made a dive towards the older boy.

"Grab her!" commanded Peter. Joel and Michael immediately obeyed; each one grabbing one of Gabrielle's arms and holding her back as Peter began to sprint away.

"No! Stop! Please..." said Gabrielle, struggling to free her arms from their prison of hands. She felt large tears forming in her grey eyes. The last thing she wanted was for the boys to see her crying. In anger, Gabrielle shut her eyes tightly, trying to stop the tears from falling as Peter's footsteps got farther and farther away.

But then suddenly, the footsteps stopped.

"What's going on here?"

It was a deep male voice. Gabrielle opened her eyes to see who it was.

"O-oh, hi Guy!" said Peter. He stepped away from the older man quickly. Guy was standing in front of Peter, with his gloved arms folded over his chest. His blue-green eyes were narrowed into a stern gaze.

"Nothing's going on here!” said Peter. “Nothing at all!"

"Yeah, sure;" said Guy, looking in Gabrielle's direction. "So why are two of your friends restraining that young girl?"

"Uhhh..." said Joel, loosening his grip on Gabrielle's arm. Michael did the same, so Gabrielle was finally able to break free of them.

"Well, anyway,” said Peter. “Gotta run--urk!"

Peter had tried to side-step Guy but Guy had grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt.

"Please kindly return what you took from the young lady," said Guy.

"W-what are you talking about?" said Peter, trying to feign innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Give her back that item you stole right now," commanded Guy. "Or I'll tell your fathers about this, and then you'll never be able to play up here ever again."

"Ugh, fine!" said Peter, grabbing the hairclip from his pocket. "Here's your stupid hairclip back!" With that the boy threw the hairclip in a high arc towards Gabrielle.

"No!" cried Gabrielle. The hairclip was still too far away for Gabrielle to catch. She knew that it was fragile enough to break once it hit the ground, but she wouldn’t be fast enough to catch it...

Fortunately, Gabrielle’s fears were short-lived. There was a blur of orange and black and suddenly, Guy was crouching on the ground, with his hands clasped over something. He had done a small roll to catch the hairclip before it reached the ground.

"Whoah, so cool!" shouted Michael.

"As expected of the amazing Guy!" chimed in Joel.

Guy slowly stood up, hairclip still in hand.

"I have half a mind to tell your fathers about this anyway," said Guy, turning his head slightly to talk to Peter, who was now behind him. "But I think I'll just cancel our hiking trip instead. I think that's a fair punishment for your behavior."

"What?! Aww..." said Peter. "Ugh, come on you guys..."

With that, Peter turned on his heel to walk away, as Joel and Michael quickly ran after him.

"Those boys are getting more and more troublesome..." said Guy. "I'll have to deal with them quickly before they get too out of hand..."

"Uhm..." started Gabrielle, who was tugging at her dress sleeves again.

Guy looked up.

"Oh, right," he said. "This is yours, isn't it?"

He unclenched his right hand to reveal the hairclip. He took one step towards Gabrielle, but then just as quickly took a step back.

"I'll just... leave this here," he said, putting the hairclip gently onto the stone bench next to him before taking more steps backwards.

Gabrielle quickly ran to the bench to claim it, gently lifting it from the cold, hard stone. She inspected it carefully. It was fortunately undamaged in the scuffle.

"...Thank you," said Gabrielle hesitantly as she held the clip to her chest. "Though I didn't really need your help anyway..." she couldn't help adding.

"Oh?" said Guy. He held a hand to his chin, as if in thought. "You seem... angry at me. Did I do something to offend you?"

"No... Well, yes; sort of," said Gabrielle, putting the hairclip back into her hair and adjusting it. "It's just... I always thought you hated me."

"What? Why in the world would I hate you?"

"It's because you always stay away from me! And you always play with Peter and the other boys, but never with me!"

Gabrielle didn't mean to raise her voice, but before she knew it she found herself shouting. She gasped slightly and quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment. What an unsightly outburst. But Guy, fortunately, didn't seem angry at her for her outburst. Instead he actually seemed... sad?

"Ah, I'm really sorry about that..." said Guy. His gaze was turned down towards the ground. "It's not that I hate you, but I... It's really... complicated."

"Really?" asked Gabrielle, trying to look into Guy's face--which was kind of hard since the older man was so much taller than her.

"I guess you could say..." said Guy slowly, as if trying to carefully choose his words. "That... I'm afraid of women?"

There was a long silence.

"Wait, you're afraid of women?" asked Gabrielle. Never in her life had she ever heard of such a thing. But her sister was inexplicably scared of dogs, and she was scared of the dark (even though she knew that was silly), so she supposed a fear of women might not be too far-fetched.

"All women? Even girls?" asked Gabrielle.

Guy nodded.

"Well," he added. "It's not like I'm completely afraid of them. I can talk to women, but... I don't like getting touched by them."

"Are you afraid of me, then; too?" asked Gabrielle.

"Yes, unfortunately..." sighed Guy. "I know it's silly, but..."

"Guy, can you please stay where you are?"

Gabrielle slowly began taking a few small steps towards Guy. At a certain distance, Guy immediately and reflexively took a step back. Gabrielle noted the spot where Guy was standing, before quickly making a long horizontal mark in the ground with her foot where she stood. Then she ran to where Guy was standing (he took a few more quick steps back, obviously), and made another horizontal mark in the ground.

"...What in the world are you doing?" asked Guy.

Gabrielle didn't answer right away. She stared at both lines in the ground for a moment, before walking from one line to the other.

"...Okay, five paces," said Gabrielle. "That's about the distance that you can stand to be near a girl, right?"

"Ah, I see," said Guy. "You were measuring the distance... That's very clever of you!"

Gabrielle couldn't help feeling proud about this, and beamed brightly.

"You know, Gabrielle," said Guy. "I think you're the first one who hasn't teased me about this. ...Thank you."

"Gabrielle? Honey?"

There was another voice. It was an older woman's this time. Gabrielle turned to see who it was. The older woman slowly walking towards Gabrielle had a head full of white hair, and her kind-looking face was full of wrinkles.

"Ah! Grandma!" exclaimed Gabrielle.

"Well, you should probably get going," said Guy. "You wouldn't want to keep her waiting, right?"

Gabrielle nodded and quickly ran to where her grandmother stood.

"Oh, and Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle turned to look back at Guy, who was waving at her.

"Let's be friends from now on, alright?"

And then he flashed her the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. Gabrielle was caught totally off guard.

"Gabrielle dear, are you alright?" asked her grandmother worriedly. "Your face is all red. Do you have a fever?"

Gabrielle clasped both hands to her face. She could feel the heat rising from it.

"N-no, I'm okay..." said Gabrielle. As she and her grandmother began walking to the lift that would take them down to the lower quarters, Gabrielle turned one last time to get a look at Guy.  All she saw was his back as he was walking towards the Fabre Manor.

"Who was that man?" asked Gabrielle's grandmother.

"Oh, he's a servant that works at the mansion. His name's Guy."

"He seems like a very nice young man!"

"Yes, he is. He's a very nice...guy..."

 

* * *

 

"Gabby?"

Nancy's voice startled Gabrielle, who jumped slightly. It was nighttime now, and Nancy and Gabrielle were relaxing in their shared room after a simple dinner. The room had two beds: a yellow one and a pink one. Even though there was no wall or line between the two beds, it was easy to see which side of the room belonged to which sister. The side with the yellow bed was clean and neat, with a medium sized vanity placed near the wall at the foot of the bed. The side with the pink bed was filled with all sorts of toys and stuffed animals.

"You seem really spaced out today," said Nancy, looking concerned. She was dressed in a simple white nightgown and was seated at the vanity combing her hair. "All throughout dinner too. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," responded Gabrielle. Gabrielle was wearing a light pink nightgown and was flopped out on her back on her bed. She was honestly getting a bit annoyed at being asked this question all day, by other members of her family. "I'm not sick or anything, okay?"

"Well, if you say so... It just seemed like something was bothering you."

Nancy had moved on to brushing her hair, while Gabrielle continued fidgeting on the bed. There was in fact something that was bothering her, but she wondered if she could bring it up without alarming her sister.

It was just a question; a simple, innocent question. There was nothing wrong with asking it, right? ...Right?

"Uhm, Nancy," said Gabrielle, trying to sound as casual as possible. "How... How old is Guy?"

Nancy put down her brush on the vanity table with an audible thud.

"...Huh?"

"I mean, I was just wondering!" said Gabrielle. "Because... because I saw him today! And... And, yeah..." Gabrielle's voice trailed off. She blew it, didn't she? She blew her cover.

From where she laid on the bed, Gabrielle could see her sister looking at her with a raised eyebrow. But nonetheless...

"If I remember correctly," said Nancy. "I'm pretty sure he's 21 years old."

"Twenty-one?!" exclaimed Gabrielle, jumping up into a sitting position. She then quickly covered her mouth and lowered her voice. "I thought he was around your age!"

"Well, he's only two years older than I am. That IS around my age..."

"But he's over twenty! That means he's practically an adult!"

"That's because he IS one, silly!" laughed Nancy. "You're acting very strange today, you know?"

Gabrielle chose to ignore that last statement.

"He's twenty-one... an adult. No wonder he seems so mature..."

Gabrielle could see her sister staring quizzically at her again, so she buried her face into one of her teddy bears' stomach.

"Um! I'm going to sleep now!" said Gabrielle. "Goodnight!"

With that she quickly climbed under the covers and pulled them over her head.

"Uh... Goodnight to you too, sis," said Nancy's voice.

 

* * *

 

From that day on, Gabrielle loved her brief visits to the Fabre Mansion. Especially if she got to see Guy.

True to his word, the two became fast friends. Since Guy couldn't stand being too close to Gabrielle, they mainly just talked. Gabrielle wasn’t much of a talker before because she found it so boring, but now she absolutely loved it.  And it didn't matter how silly or petty the subject was, Guy would listen, nod, smile, and put in a few comments here or there. Every time.

And sometimes, Gabrielle would ask Guy about stuff--mainly about himself. From these inquiries, Gabrielle learned a lot about the older man: mainly that he loved fontech. Sometimes it would be Guy who would just ramble on and on about the latest technologies; and even though Gabrielle usually only barely understood half of what he was talking about, she let him ramble on because he just looked so happy doing so.

Eventually, it got to the point where if she didn't see Guy when she visited the mansion, Gabrielle felt that it was a disappointment. Guy seemed to sense that, as he now almost always appeared to talk to her whenever she was waiting for either her sister or her grandmother to pick her up.

And of course, her sister soon noticed.

"Bye Guy!" shouted Gabrielle, waving to the man as she walked away from the manor with Nancy. Since their grandmother was sick in bed that day, Nancy was able to get half a day off.

"You've been hanging around with Guy a lot, haven't you?" asked Nancy. Gabrielle turned to look at her sister in surprise. Nancy's voice sounded very strange.

"Y-yeah, I guess so..." replied Gabrielle. For once in her life, she couldn't read the expression on her sister's face.

"And lately you've been talking a lot about him too, even at home," said Nancy. "He even calls you ‘Gabby’... I thought that was a special thing just between the two of us..."

Gabrielle immediately became worried. Was her sister... angry?

"I'm sorry if you're mad at me!" shouted Gabrielle.

"Eh? Why would I be mad at you?" asked Nancy. It was her sister's turn to look surprised.

"Oh, it's just…” mumbled Gabrielle. “I just thought--never mind."

Gabrielle sighed. She almost said something she shouldn't have.

The two sisters walked in silence for a bit.

"Hey, Nancy," said Gabrielle. "I hope this isn't being too intrusive, but... Do you like Guy?"

The question seemed to catch Nancy off-guard.

"Where in the world did this come from?"

"Well…" said Gabrielle, pulling at her curly brown hair. She would have tugged at her sleeves but her other arm was currently occupied holding onto Nancy’s hand. "I was just wondering... since, you know; he seems really popular with the maids and all."

"So you're asking if I'm in love with him, right?" asked Nancy.

Gabrielle didn't respond immediately.

"Well... I'd be lying if I said I didn't find him good looking," said Nancy. "But I'm not looking for anything serious with him. I don't think he's really my type of guy." Here her sister laughed hollowly.

"Ah, I see," said Gabrielle. Secretly, she was relieved.

"Do YOU like Guy?" asked Nancy suddenly.

"Uh, I..." Gabrielle sputtered. "Well, yeah! I mean, he's a really good friend!"

"Friend, huh..." said Nancy. That same strange look from before crossed her face again. Gabrielle stared at her sister's face. Was it a look of... pain?

But what her sister had said made Gabrielle think. Did she really only consider Guy "a friend"? Or did she feel something more for him?

 

* * *

 

Gabrielle's grandma was growing weaker as the weeks passed by. Eventually, it got to the point where she had to go to a healer for an entire day. But then there was the question of who would take care of Gabrielle during that time.

"I'm old enough to stay home by myself!" said Gabrielle angrily. It was another night in the city of Bacticul, and the two sisters were once again resting up in their shared room. Nancy was once again at her vanity while Gabrielle was sprawled stomach-first on her bed.

"You're only ten, Gabby," said Nancy. "Mom and Dad don’t feel that it's safe to have you alone at home. And I don't either."

Gabrielle angrily kicked her feet out.

"Unfortunately," started Nancy. "Mom and Dad can't really afford to take the day off from work that day because of how expensive the healer is... And I can't either because there's going to be a big party at the castle. They need me there to help with the preparations."

"So now what?" asked Gabrielle, whose voice was muffled because she was face down on her covers.

"I guess we'll just have to find someone to babysit you for a day."

" _Great_ ," said Gabrielle, not even trying to hide her annoyance. "Were you able to find someone?"

"Yeah, I did actually," said Nancy. "I spoke with them about it, and they were okay with it."

"So who is it?"

"It's someone you know," said Nancy.

"Uh... the lady who lives down the street?" asked Gabrielle, propping her head up with her hands.

"No, it's Guy."

There was a brief silence as Gabrielle let it all sink in. And then...

"OHMYGOSH, OHMYGOSH, IS THIS REAL?!" cried Gabrielle, who had jumped off the bed and was now jumping up and down and around the room. "I get to spend the whole day... with Guy?!"

"Yup!" said Nancy.

Gabrielle eventually realized that she sounded a bit  _too_  excited about this so she tried her best to calm herself down.

"I see..." said Gabrielle, though she couldn't keep herself from smiling. She looked towards her sister's face. Nancy was smiling too, though there was that slight, pained expression again...

 

* * *

 

"So, we're going to spend the whole day together, huh?" said Guy, looking down at Gabrielle.

Gabrielle was standing next to her sister in front of him (at a distance, of course). They were right outside the gates of the Fabre mansion. A group of maids were standing by, not too far off. They were all getting ready to head for the castle.

Gabrielle was doing small half-twirls where she stood. She was wearing her favorite dress: it was a dark blue and had many white frills at the sleeve ends and dress hem.  She was also wearing a black headband that had small white cloth daises decorating it. This was an outfit she only ever wore for special occasions.

"Yes, please take good care of her," said Nancy, patting Gabrielle's head. "I'll just be over at the Bacticul Castle, if you need me for anything."

Nancy turned to Gabrielle next.

“I won’t be long, alright?”

“Bye, sis!” said Gabrielle, a large smile on her face.

Nancy gave Gabrielle a small peck on the head before walking towards the group of maids.

"Oh," said Nancy. "And before I forget... YOU." She pointed at Guy, a fierce glare in her eyes. "Don't you dare do anything to make my precious sister cry! Or else I'll... I'll hug you!"

The group of maids nearby overheard her. They all let out loud gasps as if this was the most scandalous thing they had ever heard of in their life. Nancy ignored them all.

"P-please, don't!" said Guy, holding up both hands in defeat.

"Anyway," said Nancy, reverting back to her normal cheery self. "Have fun Gabby!" She waved goodbye to Gabrielle, and made a "I'm keeping my eyes on you" hand motion at Guy, before turning around and joining the other maids. After the group of maids disappeared out of sight into the Bacticul castle, Guy let out a long sigh of relief.

"Is your sister always this... scary?" asked Guy.

"Sometimes," said Gabrielle.

"Well, let's get going into the manor, shall we?" said Guy, leading the way. He walked past the imposing black gates. Gabrielle quickly followed behind.

Noticing that he was about to go through the front door, she asked, "Are we allowed to go through here?"

"Hmm? Oh, sure!" replied Guy. "There's no one important here today because they're all at the castle. So it should be fine."

Guy walked through the large oak double doors like it was no big deal. Gabrielle, however, was a bit hesitant. She had always wanted to walk through the front door before, but now that she had the chance to, it all seemed a bit... scary. Guy was waiting for her, though; so Gabrielle gathered her courage and stepped through. The doors creaked shut behind her. It was only then that Gabrielle really got a good look around her.

Gabrielle marveled at the front hall's interior. So THIS was what esteemed guests to the Fabre mansion would have seen. Large white pillars held up the roof on all sides. There was one particularly large pillar in the midst of the hall in front of them, with a beautiful, ornate sword hanging from it.

"Oh, what a lovely sword!" said Gabrielle, running over to the pillar to get a better look at it.

"Yeah, it's a pretty nice sword, isn't it," said Guy. His voice sounded sad, and Gabrielle turned to look at him in puzzlement. His eyes had a faraway look in them, as if he were remembering another time.

Gabrielle was extremely curious, but she knew when not to meddle in others' affairs. This was one of those times.

"Anyway," said Guy, quickly snapping out of his sullen mood. "Do you want to see the House Fabre garden? I doubt you've ever seen it, yes?"

"That's right, I've never seen it," said Gabrielle. "And I would love to."

"Alright, let's go!"

With that, Gabrielle followed Guy into another long hallway, and out through another set of double doors. Gabrielle gasped at what she saw. Gabrielle hadn't realized it since she always took such a long winding route to the dining quarters, but the Fabre Mansion actually had a large garden in the midst of it, with the buildings encircling the garden. In the very middle, there was a large rounded plaza, with paths leading to each of the buildings. And in each corner of the garden, there was a beautiful white goddess statue.

But it wasn't just the layout of the garden that was beautiful, the flowers themselves were too. Gabrielle had never seen such a large variety of flowers in her life. They came in all colors of the rainbow. Gabrielle didn't even know half of their names.

"I guess you really like it then?" laughed Guy, as Gabrielle gazed in awe at the flowers directly in front of her.

"Yes, of course!" said Gabrielle. "It's beautiful!"

"That would be thanks to Pere's work," said Guy.

"Pere?" asked Gabrielle.

"Ah, that's right; you've probably never seen him. He's usually in the gardens and doesn't go out of the mansion much. Let me introduce you two."

Guy started to walk towards one of the buildings, and Gabrielle followed behind. She kept her distance of five paces--but then slowly closed the gap between the two of them. At about three paces, though; Guy seemed to sense her getting closer, and took a slight leap forward while turning to face Gabrielle.

"Uh... Gabrielle?"

"Ah, sorry;" said Gabrielle. "I... forgot."

"Ahaha, that's fine."

With that, they continued walking, with Gabrielle still following behind. She sighed. She felt bad about lying. She didn't actually forget about Guy's condition.

As they've gotten to know each other more, it seemed that Guy felt a bit more comfortable with Gabrielle at shorter distances; though Guy probably didn't even realize this himself. Slowly, Gabrielle had been inching a bit closer to the older man, trying to test his limits. Unfortunately, the limit seemed to be at about three paces away, as her getting any closer would always startle him. Gabrielle DID want Guy to get over his fear, because she felt that was an awful way to live, being scared of half of the world's population. But at the same time she wanted to respect his phobia, so she tried her best not to push his limits too far. She also didn't want him to realize what she was doing, either.

It wasn't long before Gabrielle and Guy reached a lonely-looking building.

"This is my master's room," said Guy, motioning to it with a gloved hand.

"I see..." said Gabrielle. She couldn't help feeling a slight twinge of jealousy. It must be nice to be that master, getting to see Guy everyday!

"And there's Pere!" said Guy. "Just the person I was looking for."

Gabrielle turned her gaze from the house to look in the direction of Guy's voice. Guy had gone over to an older looking man and had begun greeting him.

"Tending to the flowers outside of Master Luke's room again, huh?" said Guy.

"Well, the young master always seems so gloomy, so I thought I'd brighten up his living quarters with some flowers," said Pere. "Oh? And who's this young lady?"

"Oh, uh," said Gabrielle, walking over to the two. "My name's Gabrielle." She did a small curtsey. "Pleased to meet you, sir." She hoped she was being polite enough. It was polite to curtsey when you're introduced, right?

"What a charming young lady!" said Pere, smiling. "But why are you here today? I don't think I've ever seen you around."

"I'm babysitting her for the day," said Guy. Gabrielle flinched slightly. The word "babysitting" seemed to sting.

"Ah, so it's a date then?" teased Pere. "How lucky! Not every girl gets to spend a day with such a fine young man as Guy."

"Pere, please," said Guy, laughing.

Even though Gabrielle knew it was meant as a joke, she couldn't help beaming at Pere's words. It really DID feel like a date... And even if it wasn't, there was no harm in pretending it was one, right?

The two men continued to talk for a bit, so Gabrielle (still in bliss from the thought) began to skip and dance around the garden. She was too happy to care that she probably looked very childish right now. Suddenly, a beautiful blue butterfly fluttered by, and Gabrielle chased after it in girlish glee--and promptly tripped on an uneven tile and fell. Face-first.

"Ah, Gabby!"

It was Guy's voice. It sounded worried.

"Oh dear..."

That was Pere's voice.

"I've been telling the carpenters to fix that step for the longest time but they keep putting it off... By the way, is the young lady alright?"

"Gabby, are you alright?" Guy repeated the question.

Gabrielle, who was still lying on the ground, slowly picked herself up. How embarrassing! This was not how she wanted to start the day with Guy. She was glad that Guy was currently standing behind her and couldn't see her face. It was completely red.

"I-I'm fine," muttered Gabrielle, who chose to stay sitting on the ground.

"What happened?"

"I was just... chasing a butterfly and--"

"You were chasing a butterfly? Ah, Gabrielle, you're so..."

“ _So what?_ ” thought Gabrielle. " _So childish? So clumsy? So stupid?_ "

Gabrielle braced herself for the worst.

"So..." continued Guy. "So cute! You're so cute, Gabby."

Gabrielle was hit with a mix of conflicting emotions. She didn't know how exactly to feel about that compliment. But what she did know was that her face was burning up fiercely. Without thinking, she quickly stood up, turned to face Guy, and shouted:

"Y-you idiot!"

"Eh?!"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!"

The words tumbled out of Gabrielle's mouth before she could stop them. Mortified, Gabrielle quickly turned back around and started running blindly forwards.

"Gabby, wait, there's--!" shouted Guy

"Young lady, stop!" cried Pere.

Too late. With a loud crash, Gabrielle crashed headfirst into a building wall, and promptly fell backwards onto her back in a daze.

 

* * *

 

"Um, Gabby, are you alright?"

It was the third time Guy had asked that now. After Gabrielle's little "incident," the three had moved over to a bench in the garden. Gabrielle was sitting on the bench while Pere tended to her injuries, including those she had gotten from tripping over the uneven tile. All in all, she had a skinned knee, two skinned elbows, and a bruised forehead. Her injuries hurt, but there was something that hurt more: her pride.

"...Gabby...?" Guy's voice faltered, as he stood nervously to the side.

Gabrielle had refused to answer him, choosing instead to glare angrily at anything that WASN'T him.

"Did I make you mad at me?" asked Guy. "If that's the case I'm really very sorry for what I've done to make you angry."

Gabrielle bit her lower lip. Guy was so nice--too nice. Here he was apologizing, even though he didn't even know what he did! Gabrielle didn't understand why, but this thought somehow made her angrier at Guy.

"Yeah, she's mad at you alright..." said Pere as he finished bandaging Gabrielle's knee. Guy let out a sigh.

"Well, at least just answer me this: Are you alright?"

Gabrielle decided it was rude to keep ignoring him, so she said finally:

"I think I'll be alright..."

"Oh, that's good," said Guy. "I'm relieved."

Gabrielle turned to glare at Guy, as a sudden thought struck her.

"Is that only because you're scared of my sister and don't want to get punished?" asked Gabrielle.

"Huh?" said Guy. "Well, now that you bring that up, I suppose so."

" _I knew it,_ " thought Gabrielle. She clenched her fists tightly.

"But that's not important," said Guy. "Right now, I only care about  _you_  Gabby. Because you're my dear and special friend."

Gabrielle couldn't help letting out an audible gasp. She turned her face away quickly so the two men couldn't see her blushing furiously.

"I-is that so..." she said.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well, Guy; it looks like the young lady's still mad at you," said Pere, putting away the first aid supplies.

"It appears so..." said Guy, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Looks like you'll have to find a way to make it up to her."

"Yes, of course."

"What do you have in mind for that, Guy?"

Gabrielle sat and stared at the two men in silence as their small tirade went on.

"It's almost lunch time... so I guess I should take her out for lunch?" said Guy finally.

"Yes, splendid idea!" said Pere, smiling. "There's that new restaurant that just opened up a month ago, right?"

"Yeah," said Guy. "I've been there once before. The atmosphere is nice, and the food is wonderful."

"I think you just found your answer, then! But of course, you're going to have to ask the young lady herself about what her thoughts are about this."

"Oh!" Gabrielle let out a small, startled yelp as the two older men turned to look at her.

"I..." said Gabrielle. "I'm fine with that plan."

"It's settled then!" said Pere. "You two kids go out and have some fun. Enjoy yourselves!"

"Alright, alright," said Guy, smiling. He motioned to Gabrielle. "Come on, Gabby, we should probably go before the lunch rush hour starts."

Gabrielle nodded, and happily followed behind Guy as he led the way. After giving a slight wave of goodbye to Pere, the two were quickly out of the mansion and through the gates.

"It's a bit of a walk to the restaurant," said Guy. "I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's fine!" said Gabrielle. "I'm not a baby anymore." here she puffed out her checks in mock-anger. Guy laughed at the display.

"Yes, of course you aren't."

Usually, Gabrielle would follow behind Guy, but this time she felt it more appropriate to walk by his side--at an arm's length, but still...

As the two headed towards the lift going down, Guy said, "Oh, we should probably take care not to get separated, huh? It's not usually very busy in Bacticul today, but there's still quite a bit of people down there..."

Gabrielle instinctively reached for Guy's right hand, but he drew it away quickly, as if he had been burned by a flame.

"Ah, I'm sorry," said Guy, noticing the sad look on Gabrielle's face. "I didn't mean to..."

"No, it's my fault," interrupted Gabrielle. "I'm sorry. I forgot."

She really did mean it this time.

"No, I should be the one apologizing," said Guy. "That was very rude of me. Gabby, you're always holding onto your sister's or your grandmother's hand when you're walking through the city, right?"

Gabrielle nodded.

"Ah, okay, I think I have an idea."

Gabrielle looked at Guy with a puzzled expression, as the older man looked for something in one of his vest pockets.

"I think this should work," said Guy, pulling out a white-colored handkerchief.

"Here," he said, offering Gabrielle one of its ends. "I'll hold one end, and you hold the other. That's... almost like holding hands, right?"

Gabrielle's eyes lit up when she finally understood what the older man was trying to do. She grabbed a hold of the end she was offered and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's go!" said Guy, as the lift stopped and the two got off.

I probably looked a bit silly to everyone they passed, with the two of them walking in such a manner; but Gabrielle was too happy to care. A few people walking by (who seemed to know Guy) asked him if he was out for a walk with his "cute little sister."  Each time he was asked this, Guy firmly denied it with a smile.

"She's a friend I'm taking out to lunch," he would say.

The walk was indeed a long one, as they had to take a lot of long, winding roads. But for Gabrielle, the longer, the better. Sometimes she would swing her hand that was holding onto one end of the handkerchief, and Guy, holding the other end, swung his arm along in time with her. Every time she did this, Guy would give her a glance and a smile, and Gabrielle would give him one in turn. She couldn't have been happier.

Finally, the two reached a small building.

"Here we are!" said Guy, pushing open the thick wooden door. After he went through, he held the door open for Gabrielle. When Gabrielle stepped inside, she was bombarded by the smell of food.

The inside of the restaurant was lit by large glass lanterns, which hung from the rafters. The walls were decorated with wood carvings of animals and people, depicted in daily life scenes. A few rounded windows set into the walls. The tables neatly placed about were square, wooden ones and there were stools all around. The tables were quite small, so Gabrielle guessed that they were more suited for one or two people than for large groups.

"This place might be called a bit 'old fashioned' by some, but I quite like it," said Guy, as he walked over to an empty table by the window. "It gives the place a rustic charm. This place only has stools, though; sorry."

As Guy sat down on one, Gabrielle went over to the table and sat in the other opposite of Guy.

On top of the table was a small rack-holder with a few menus inside. Guy grabbed one and slid it over to Gabrielle across the table, before grabbing one for himself.

"What would you like to eat?" he asked Gabrielle. "My treat."

Gabrielle opened up the menu and looked at its contents in the dim light. The place seemed to specialize in serving pasta dishes.

"I don't think I really mind anything here," said Gabrielle. "I guess I can just have whatever you're having?"

"Oh?" said Guy. "Well, if you say so..."

It didn't take long for a waiter to come to their table. Gabrielle immediately noticed that most of the waiters here were male. Was that another reason why Guy liked this place so much? The waiter quickly took Guy's and Gabrielle’s order and went back into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone once again.

Gabrielle took this time to look around a bit more. It was just before the peak lunch hour so there weren't that many people yet. Many people seemed to be eating alone, though there were two other tables that were occupied by a man and a woman--couples, no doubt. Gabrielle looked back towards Guy, who was staring distantly out of the window with his chin propped up by a hand. She couldn't help smiling. Well, it certainly DID feel like a date now...

"Is there something funny on my face?" asked Guy, who had noticed that Gabrielle was smiling at him.

"A-ah! No!" said Gabrielle quickly. She hoped the dim lighting was enough to hide her faint blush. After that, there was an awkward silence. Even though Gabrielle could talk to Guy for hours on end at the mansion, she didn't want to talk to him at all now that they were at the restaurant. Maybe it was because they were out in public, but the atmosphere seemed somehow heavier. Gabrielle wondered if that was due to a lack of privacy or because of her recently realized feelings for the older man...

"Here's your orders!"

The loud thud of dishes being put on the table by the waiter from before startled Gabrielle out of her thoughts, eliciting a small gasp from her. The waiter grinned slightly, and even Guy couldn't help smiling at this. Gabrielle puffed her cheeks out in annoyance at the waiter's retreating backside, before turning to look downwards at the plate that had been set in front of her. It was some kind of seafood pasta.

"You really like seafood, don't you?" asked Gabrielle, picking up a fork. She had remembered the time she and Guy talked at length about what food they usually ate.

"Huh? Do I?" said Guy. He had taken off his gloves and was already digging into his meal with a fork. "I guess I never really thought too deeply about that..."

The two ate in silence. Gabrielle was content to just look at the older man (even though her sister always told her it was rude to look at people when they were eating). It wasn't long before Guy noticed. He had a perplexed look upon his face, which quickly turned to a pained expression--the same one Gabrielle's sister used on her many times.

"Is something wrong?" asked Gabrielle.

"No... It's nothing," said Guy. "Um, you're awfully quiet today."

"I guess I am..." said Gabrielle. They continued their meal in silence, though the atmosphere between them had definitely changed. All the while, Gabrielle wondered…

Just what was that expression supposed to mean?

After they finished lunch, Guy and Gabrielle walked back to the Fabre mansion the same way they had come. Once again, they used the white handkerchief to "hold hands."  However, the walk back to the mansion wasn't as pleasant as the one to the restaurant. Guy had a clouded expression on his face the whole time, and it seriously worried Gabrielle.

When they were back in the Fabre mansion proper, and back in the garden, Guy suddenly turned to face Gabrielle.

"Gabby, I'm going to need to talk to Pere for a bit... in private," he said. "So... could you go play in the garden a bit? By yourself? Is that okay?"

"Yes, that's fine!" said Gabrielle, faking nonchalance. With that, she skipped off towards the other end of the plaza... before quickly hiding behind a statue. Peeking out from behind it, she saw Guy going over to talk to Pere, who was in the other corner of the garden. His back was turned towards her. Good! He hadn't noticed her hiding!

As quietly as she could, Gabrielle began inching towards the two men, using the flower planters as covers. Finally, she stopped behind a particularly large one and sat down on the grass, straining her ears to hear the conversation. Guy and Pere were simply making small talk, and Gabrielle wondered if she had possibly been overreacting. But then after a brief pause, Guy spoke up again. This time, his tone was serious.

"Pere, can I ask you something?"

"Hmmm?" said Pere, looking up briefly from some plants he was removing from a pot.

"Well, it's just..." continued Guy. "At lunch today, I noticed that Gabrielle was looking at me--staring at me, in fact. Really... adoringly?"

Gabrielle's heart almost skipped a beat at her name. And wait, what did he mean by that last sentence?

"Hmmm?" said Pere again, as he put the plant he was holding down on the ground.

"And, I just..." sputtered Guy. "It's just... I wonder if... Is Gabrielle...? Does Gabrielle have a crush on me?"

Gabrielle had to clasp both hands over her mouth to stop herself from letting out a loud gasp. So he  _did_  know.

"Wasn't it obvious?" asked Pere.

"Was it really that obvious...?" asked Guy back, echoing Gabrielle's current thoughts.

"Well, this isn't the FIRST time you've made a girl fall head over heels for you, ya know?” said Pere. “And unintentionally too.”

"Pere, let's not even joke about that right now..." Guy's voice sounded forlorn. "The thought never crossed my mind that Gabby... no, Gabrielle would develop a crush on me. I mean, she's just--"

"Just a little girl?" said Pere. "Just a child? If you didn't think Gabrielle could fall for you just because of her age, you definitely don't know a single thing about women. Or love."

Guy laughed a hollow laugh. Gabrielle peeked over the flower planter and saw Guy sit heavily down on a bench.

"Pere," started Guy. "Why do girls keep falling in love with me?"

"Because you're too nice," said Pere flatly.

"Is that so..."

Silence. And then...

"Pere, what am I going to do now?" Guy asked.

"About what?" said Pere. "About the young lady's crush on you?"

"Well, obviously I can't return it," said Guy. "For many, **many** reasons."

Gabrielle felt a sharp pain in her chest. She had a feeling that this would happen, but even so...

"In that case," started Pere. "There's only one thing for you to do, isn't there? You're gonna have to tell it to her straight. You're gonna have to tell her that you can't return her feelings."

"But that's..."

"Too mean?" finished Pere. "Too cruel? It may be hard for her to hear, but you must tell her this. Nip it in the bud, so to say. If you continue on as if everything's okay, then her feelings for you may just grow. By delaying things, you're just gonna hurt her more in the long run. So better to do it now and get it done with."

"But..." said Guy.

"But what?"

"When I first became friends with her," started Guy. "I never wanted to hurt her feelings. I would never want to break her heart..."

Gabrielle felt another sharp stab in her chest.

Another short silence.

"Pere, I think..." started Guy. "I'll need to think on this a bit. Can you watch Gabrielle for me? I'm going outside the Fabre mansion."

From her place behind the flower planters, Gabrielle saw Guy stand up from the bench. She quickly scurried back the way she came and pretended to be intensely interested in some flowers. It wasn't long before she heard Guy's footsteps behind her.

"Um, Gabrielle?"

"Yes?" asked Gabrielle, feigning innocence as she turned around to look at him.

"I'm going to have to go outside the mansion grounds for a bit. ...Sorry." Here, Guy looked down towards the ground. "I know today was supposed to be a day where the both of us could spend time together but..."

"It's okay," said Gabrielle. "You need to do your job after all."

"...Right."

With that, Guy quickly walked away and back into the Fabre mansion.

Gabrielle sighed. She didn't want to play any longer. She found a bench nearby and sat down on it, turning her head upwards to the sky. Thoughts and emotions swirled through her head.

She knew realistically that any serious relationship could probably never occur between her and Guy. His reaction to her crush on him cemented that notion. Even so...

Even so, Gabrielle couldn't help feeling pained. She clutched at her chest with both hands. It felt like her heart was trying to tear itself from her body. Is this what the adults meant when they said "love hurts"? So this is what it feels like to have an unrequited love...

A strong wave of anger suddenly washed over Gabrielle. It wasn't fair! If only she were older! Then... Then...

No, even then, there was no guarantee that she could pursue a romantic relationship with Guy. If she were older, like her sister, Gabrielle might have had a chance. But there were far too many other obstacles in the way. First of all, Guy practically lived in the Fabre mansion, as the servant of the Duke's son. So Gabrielle would have had very slim chances of ever seeing him. Secondly, and more importantly, Guy's fear of women prevented him from ever really getting close to women. Gabrielle realized that she may have been the first female to get that close to him, and even then there was still such a great distance between them...

No matter what the circumstances, it would have been a hopeless endeavor. Gabrielle leaned back into the bench and sighed. A sudden thought flashed through her mind. If only there was some way to have Guy's attention all for her own... But Gabrielle quickly shook her head and shoved the thought away. No, that would be selfish of her, extremely so. She couldn't have him all to herself. Guy was the type of person who helped everyone he met, no matter what the circumstances. The world needed a kind person like that.  He was such a nice person. Far too nice.

Which was why he was hurting so much now. Gabrielle couldn't help feeling that it was her fault--because of her crush, Guy was distraught over how to let her down. Gabrielle pulled her feet and legs up onto the bench, burrowing her face into her knees, trying to calm the whirlwind of emotions within her.  Gabrielle wasn't sure of many things, but there was one thing she was absolutely sure of.  And that was that the most important thing to her was Guy's happiness. She couldn't bear seeing him look so pained, so Gabrielle made a decision.  _She_  would be the one to put an end to things.

"You seem like you've just made a very important decision."

Gabrielle jumped slightly at the voice. She turned her head quickly in its direction. Pere was behind her, digging up weeds with a rake. He peered at her over the top of the bench. It took Gabrielle a few moments before she could reply.

"Yes, I have," she said.

"I see..." said Pere, leaning on the rake. "In that case, you can find Guy out in the woods. That's usually where he goes to think."

Gabrielle opened her mouth in surprise. How did he...? But she quickly closed her mouth and said simply, "Thank you!" before running towards the doors of the mansion.  
  
She ran quickly through the double doors; through the hallways of the mansion, through another set of double doors that opened to the outside world; past the gate; past the guards (who ignored her just as much as she ignored them); past that stone bench that she once hated so much; and into the forest surrounding the mansion. She didn't have go very far, before the forest gave way to a large green clearing. There was a hill right in front of her, which she quickly climbed atop. Looking down, she was hit with an amazing sight.

It was a very small valley, but it was full of blooming wildflowers of all colors. These flowers lacked the grace and elegance of those flowers in the Fabre garden, but it was nonetheless beautiful. And then she saw him, almost hidden in the midst of the sea of pink and yellow: Guy. He was lying on the ground on his back, hands on his stomach, one leg crossed over the other. His head was facing away from her, so Gabrielle slowly climbed down the hill towards him.

"Guy..." said Gabrielle in a small voice.

There was no response.

"Guy...?"

Gabrielle continued to walk towards the older man, and at five paces was close enough to see why he wasn't answering her. Guy was asleep.

Gabrielle didn't know what to do. She had been so set on telling Guy not to worry, that she was fine with them just being friends; that she hadn't planned out exactly HOW to say that. Now that she had time to think, a sudden wave of panic hit her, causing her to stay frozen on the spot. Gabrielle just stared randomly about her, trying to collect her thoughts. The gentle swaying of the flowers in the breeze seemed to calm her down somewhat.

She took a deep breath, and again stared at the man lying asleep in front of her. Should she wake him up or... no; that would be rude. Gabrielle knew that Guy was always busy--the poor guy must not be able to get much sleep. Gabrielle was just about to walk away, back towards the hill, but a single thought forced itself to the front of her mind.

She knew that it was probably a bad thing to do, knowing just how severe Guy's phobia was. But something compelled Gabrielle to inch closer and closer to him. She probably wouldn't ever get the chance to stand so close to him like this ever again. Scarcely daring to breathe, Gabrielle took slow, small steps; until finally, she was standing at his side, just one pace away.

This was the closest Gabrielle had ever gotten to Guy, and the first time she really saw his face clearly, because he was so much taller than her. She noticed the sword at his side, and smiled. To her, it seemed just a little bit silly. Did he ALWAYS carry that sword wherever he went?

Gabrielle wanted to gently pat his hair, or touch the back of his gloved hand. But she knew that that was a clear violation of his privacy. Sighing, she slowly walked back towards the hill, and climbed it. Turning back to look down on Guy's sleeping form, she finally realized just how far the distance between them really was. And then she broke down and cried, letting the tears that she had been holding back flow out of her.

How childish of her, to think that their brief meetings could just go on indefinitely.

How childish of her, to think that they could ever be more than friends.

How childish of her, to fall so hard for someone so far out of her league.

From where Gabrielle stood, the flowers between her and Guy now seemed like an impassable sea.

Gabrielle also realized, that with her grandmother growing weaker by the day, that this would probably be the last time she'd ever get to see Guy. Her grandmother would no longer be able to walk her to the mansion, though that was a moot point anyway as Gabrielle would have to stay home to watch over her ailing grandmother. This thought just made Gabrielle cry harder, though she tried to do so silently, so as not to wake up Guy.

After what seemed like an eternity, Gabrielle stood up. She was no longer crying, though not because she didn't want to anymore. She was simply "all cried out."  Her eyes stung and they felt puffy when she rubbed at them. She wasn't even sure if she felt sad anymore; she just felt very hollow inside.

Nonetheless, all the crying she did had calmed her down immensely, giving her time to think clearly. She knew now how she was going to reassure Guy that she saw him as nothing more than as a friend... even though that was a blatant lie. Now all that was left was to wait for Guy to wake up. Gabrielle sat back down on the hilltop, with her legs in front of her. Glancing down, she saw a small white dandelion puff at her side. The typical yellow petals had already wilted, leaving just a puffy orb of fluff.

It was then that Gabrielle remembered something her sister had said to her long ago, when she was much younger. What was it about dandelion flowers and kisses?

_"If you blow dandelion seeds into the wind, it's almost like blowing a kiss, isn't it?"_

Gabrielle quickly broke the stem of the dandelion and held the white puff to her face. It was a really silly thing to do, but... if she could land one of the puffy seeds onto Guy's face; that would be like giving him a kiss on the cheek, wouldn't it?

Gabrielle took a deep breath and gently blew on the flower, sending the small seed puffs flying. Unfortunately, there was a gentle breeze flowing through the small valley that day, so the puffs just scattered haphazardly in the wind. But Gabrielle was not going to give up. She quickly grabbed all the dandelion flowers she could find in her immediate area, and blew the seeds off of all of them. Once again, the wind thwarted her efforts.

It wasn't long before the sun began to sink, and Gabrielle was still unsuccessful. She stared around at the wanton destruction she had caused, leaving headless dandelions in a wide radius around her. She couldn't find any more dandelions around her on the hill, and she didn't want search the meadow below for fear that it might wake Guy. Was her plan going to end in failure?

She slumped to the ground on her knees, dejected. And that's when she noticed it.

Right in front of her was the smallest dandelion she had ever seen. It probably couldn't grow very big because of the lack of sunlight, from being covered by all the other dandelion flowers. It had also turned into a white, puffy orb of seeds like the others. Gabrielle gently picked it from the ground; for fear that the slightest jerky movements might disturb the seeds. She slowly stood up, and readied another breath. Closing her eyes, she blew wind out of her mouth and scattered the dandelion seeds into the wind. She was going to leave everything up to chance now.

Like all the others before it, the dandelion seeds were all scattered away by the breeze. However, one seed floated high above the others, and moved slowly down the hill towards Guy. Gabrielle stared at it intently, as it drifted slowly down, down, down...

And onto Guy's nose.

Gabrielle couldn't help letting out a shout of "yes!" However, that seemed to startle Guy from his slumber.

Feeling something on his nose, Guy grabbed at the lone dandelion fluff with two fingers.

"Oh?" he said. "A dandelion seed? I suppose it's that time of the year when they all start letting out seeds--wait, what the..."

Guy had sat up and it was only then that he noticed he was covered in them.

"What in the world..."

He quickly stood up and brushed them off his clothes. Looking at the sky, he noted that it was starting to turn a soft pink and purple. The sun was quickly setting and night would fall soon.

"I thought I heard Gabby's voice somewhere..."

As Guy turned towards the hill, he saw her. Gabrielle. She was standing on top of the hill, with her back to him. The sun setting in the distance framed her small body with light.

"Gabrielle," said Guy, as he slowly walked up the hill to meet her. "Did you do this?" He was still picking dandelion seeds from his shirt vest.

Gabrielle didn't answer right away. Instead, she slowly turned to face him, a smile on her face.

The wind was behind her, blowing her curly brown hair all about in her face. Her bright gray eyes seemed to sparkle, and Gabrielle hoped that Guy wouldn't notice the tear streaks down the sides of her face.

She took a deep breath, before shouting, "Thank you!"

Guy stopped in his place. He looked puzzled, though he had a gentle smile on his face.

"What are you thanking me for?" he asked.

"Thank you..." started Gabrielle again. Her voice began to shake, but she quickly steeled herself and continued on.

"Thank you! For being my very dear and special...

 _friend_."


End file.
